Motor vehicles having an internal combustion engine use what is generally known as idle speed control. The purpose of this idle speed control is to keep the internal combustion engine at a specific minimum engine speed, referred to as idling speed or setpoint idling speed, when the driver is not requesting any torque or too low a torque, i.e., when the driving pedal is not actuated. In the process, an actual value for the engine speed is compared to the setpoint idling speed, and a corresponding second setpoint torque is calculated as output variable of the idle-speed controller so as to adjust the actual value for the engine speed to the setpoint idling speed.
This setpoint torque of the idle speed controller is usually incorporated at the end of a torque coordination to ensure that no other torque-influencing function, such as driver-assistance systems or filtering for load-reversal damping, for example, modifies this second setpoint torque. Filter means, which filter a first setpoint torque of the internal combustion engine, are provided for load-reversal damping.